


In Your Heart Shall Burn

by Ninmerin



Series: Twists and Turns of Fade [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 01:26:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10583538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninmerin/pseuds/Ninmerin
Summary: Cullen's POV on the destruction of Haven, and the first time he realized he had a thing for the Herald of Andraste.





	

Fire. Sceaming. A stampede of bodies desperate for survival.

Haven was in chaos. A dragon flew overhead, black as the night sky, holes in the membrane of its wings, claws and teeth rotted.

Cullen waved soldiers into the gate, eyes searching past them. The trebuchet the Herald had been manning had exploded when the dragon appeared. Soldiers poured forth from all directions, but there was no sign of the Herald, the seeker, or the others who had accompanied her.

Just when Cullen thought he would have to abandon them for lost and close the gate, he saw her, running through the trees with the smith, Harrit, at her heels. Her companions followed, carving their way through the Red Templars that attempted to follow.

Arianni paused, seeing the gate, seeing Cullen, and she turned. Waving her companions past her, she raised her staff, slamming the end into the ground. Sparks flew around her as a rune appeared, spreading wide, engulfing the path she stood on.

Solas watched, before raising his own staff. Before he could do anything, the Herald pushed him back, slamming her staff into the same spot. A second rune appeared, with the Herald as the focal point. It, too spread, until it reached the same size as the first. Where hers had been red, like glowing embers littering the ground, this one was blue.

Great hulking THINGS lumbered towards them, unholy masses of grey flesh and red Lyrium crystals. As Cullen waved in the smith and the first of her companions, he watched her argue with Solas, sending him towards the gate with a forceful shove.

"Herald! You must get to the gate!" Cullen wasn't sure she could hear him over the din.

The horrors approached her, and for a moment, as Solas walked gravely past Cullen into the gate, he was sure she was lost. Stepping far beyond the threshold of the runes, the nearest one raised an arm, it's hand a sharp crystal, ready to strike.

Arianni raised her staff a short distance and tapped it down, and the area around her exploded into a pillar of fire and ice, flames roaring upward around her as ice crystals shot from the ground through the horrors.

Turning, Arianni looked to the gate where Cullen stood.

As he watched her, surrounded by beauty and devastation in equal measure, illuminated in flashes, Cullen felt his mouth go dry and he suddenly noticed just how hard his heart was pounding. She was grinning as she watched the monstrosities become engulfed in her magic. She was beautiful. She was also terrifying.

When the air stilled, the horrors that had surrounded her were frozen in place, and Cullen could see flames licking the inside of the ice. As the Herald stepped out of the range of the runes, the horrors exploded, the flames beneath the ice firing outward, creating a fiery haze behind her, illuminating her silhouette as she walked. Her grin was gone, and a grim determination replaced it.

Heading towards the gate, the Herald stopped suddenly, turning her head. As Cullen tried to see what had caught her attention, he saw the dragon approaching, shrieking as its wings sliced through the sky. It aimed directly for the town as it’s maw opened, and a red light signaled it’s intent to fire.

The Herald raised her staff again, firing a bolt of lightning at the creature. The light from her staff illuminated her face, and Cullen again saw the determination, the surety, and the utter lack of fear.

The dragon veered off its course, turning away from Haven, screeching its fury. Cullen was sure it would be back. Finding his voice, he shouted to the Herald.

"We have to move!"

Arianni nodded at him, following him through the gate. "We must get everyone to the Chantry. It's the only building that might stand a chance against that. that THING!" He sighed. "At this point, just make them work for it."

Cullen turned for the Chantry, expecting the Herald to follow. She broke off almost immediately, rushing to a burning house. She blasted the door away, and as Cullen ran for the Chantry, he looked back to see her dragging the shopkeep, Seggrit, from the house. He kept running.

The people poured into Haven's Chantry.

Cole half carried chancellor Roderick through the doors, as the Herald filed in after the last of the villagers.

Cullen jogged up to her, relieved she was unharmed.

"Herald..." Cullen shook his head. "Our position is not good. That dragon stole back any time you might have earned us."

"Cole helped Roderick into a chair and turned to them. "I've seen an Archdemon. I was in the Fade, but it looked like that."

"I don't care what it looks like," Cullen said angrily. "It's cut a path for that army. They'll kill everyone in Haven."

"The Elder One doesn't care about the village. He only wants the Herald," Cole said, pointing at Arianni.

"If it would save the people of Haven, he could have me," Arianni said sullenly.

"It would not. He wants to kill you. No one else matters, but he will crush them, kill them any way." Cole frowned. "I don't like him."

"You don't like-" Cullen broke off. there was no time for this. "Herald, there are no tactics to make this survivable. The only thing that slowed them was the avalanche. We can turn the remaining trebuchets, cause one last slide."

"We'd bury Haven," Arianni said, a horrified look on her face.

"Yes." There was no point in lying. "We are dying, but we can decide how. There aren't many who get to choose that."

"No," the Herald said angrily. "I'm not as quick to give up on these people." Her voice was hard, and Cullen found himself feeling chastised.

"But if there is no way to save them..." Cullen sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I don't know, I've never fought a dragon," Arianni said. "It could be worth a shot."

Cullen chuckled. Gallows humor, he supposed.

"Yes," Cole said, and they both turned. The pale boy was looking at Roderick. "He knows a way. He wants to tell you before he dies."

As Roderick explained in halting, pained breaths, of a tunnel beneath the Chantry, beneath Haven itself, Cullen found himself hoping, believing that just maybe, there was a way to save the people of Haven.

"Cullen," Arianni began. "Can you get them out?"

"Maybe. With enough time." Cullen looked to where the people of Haven huddled in he back of the Chantry, then back to the Herald. "But what of you? How will you escape?"

Arianni looked away, and Cullen realized she didn't intend to escape. The thought hurt, though he wasn't entirely sure why. He'd seen so much death, and he barely knew her.

"Perhaps you will surprise it... Find a way," Cullen said, trying to reassure himself as much as her.

Arianni nodded, her face was grim, and yet, again, he could see a fire within her, and a determination. He felt sure that if anyone could survive this, it would be her.

Her companions had been listening, and they approached.

"Who's with me?" Arianni looked around at them.

Dorian smirked. "Well, I've always wondered what fighting a dragon is like."

"You have my sword, my lady," Blackwall said solemnly.

"I am with you," Cassandra said simply. There was nothing more she needed to say.

"As for me," Iron Bull said, "I've ALWAYS wanted to fight a dragon. It's your call, Boss."

Solas nodded. "I will go where I am needed."

Varric shivered, rubbing Bianca gingerly. "Well, this scares the shit out of me, but Bianca's excited. You just tell us where to go.

"Cassandra, Blackwall, Dorian, with me. The rest of you should focus on helping these villagers get to safety." Arianni turned to those she had selected. "As for you three. When the trebuchet is aimed, I want you all to leave me and return to the Chantry," Arianni said. Practically shouting over the arguments that ensued, she continued. "I will need you to signal me, to let me know these people are safe. It is the only way I can know when to fire."  
  
Cullen saw the resignation in their faces, and knew the decision was made. "Maker be with you," he said softly. He nodded to the boy, Cole, and moved towards the back of the Chantry. Gathering soldiers, he began organizing the evacuation.

-

As the last of the villagers made their way out of the cave, Cullen saw the Herald's companions come sprinting towards him.  
"The Herald?" Cullen barely managed to hide his concern. If the Herald was lost, they were all doomed.

Nearly out of breath, Cassandra said, "We have to signal her. The dragon is upon her. We barely made it out. If she lives, she has to fire now."

Cullen looked down at Haven. The trebuchet the Herald would be at was obscured by the Chantry building, but He was almost sure he could see fire, and an unnatural red glow.

Twirling his staff, Solas shot a fireball into the air. It sailed higher than any arrow, illuminating the sky for a long moment.

"We cannot stay here," Cullen said. "There is a valley ahead where we can make camp. For now, we climb." And we pray, he added silently.

A moment later, there was an earth-shaking crash. Nearly half a mile to the right of the Inquisition's forces, the trebuchet missile hit the side of the neighboring mountain, and the snow and rocks began falling. The ensuing chaos lasted several minutes, but through the rising snow and debris, Cullen saw the dragon fly away, presumably with the Elder One.

Any joy he felt when he saw the trebuchet missile hit fled his heart as the people around him cheered. Looking down at Haven, there was nothing. The only recognizable building was the Chantry, and even it's stone walls had been as paper to the force of the avalanche. where Cullen knew the trebuchet would have been, he saw only snow and the occasional tree, felled by the force of the slide.

They had lived, but the Herald was lost to them.  
  
  
\-------------Arianni POV  
  
  
Arianni had a name for the enemy now. Corypheus, he had called himself. Tall, taller even than Bull, he had snatched her up by her arm and tried to rip the Mark from her hand. The pain had nearly caused her to faint, but in the midst of the chaos, something unlocked in her mind. She understood the Mark a bit better. She could use it.

Arianni wandered the mountainside for what had to be hours, shielding her face from the piercing sleet with an upraised hand. She could feel the scab on her back tear repeatedly. She knew she would have a large scar from being thrown into the trebuchet. She smiled a grim smile, taking satisfaction in the look of utter fury that Corypheus' face had held as she jumped into the underground cavern.

The thought did little to warm her, though. With every abandoned campsite, she was met with only cold fire pits. There was no way to tell how long it had been since the Inquisition, or anyone else, had used them.

She was reluctant to make a fire, though it would have been simple enough. She didn't want Corypheus or his dragon to spot her. She contented herself with warming her hands using magic and rubbing her arms, though even this consumed so much of her energy she could only do it when the cold turned warm, and she feared she would fall into the soft snow, never to wake.

Finally, as she stumbled to yet another fire pit, she saw something beneath the ashes. as the wind stirred them, she saw the faint glow of embers. A marking on a nearby stone vaguely resembled the sword and eye of the Inquisition. She felt, for the first time since she had seen the dragon, a faint hope.

"Found you," Arianni stuttered through numb lips.

As she ascended the mountain, she was grateful to learn that there existed a point above which it was not snowing, though the wind kept blowing heartlessly, stirring the snow upon the ground and flinging it at her like needles. She could no longer feel her feet, in fact, she hadn't been able to in over an hour, and she wanted desperately to stop and warm them. She knew that if she did, she may likely never find the Inquisition.

She continued to climb, pulling her knees up, forcing herself, one step at a time, up the mountain.

When she saw that she was nearing a precipice, she quickened her pace, hoping the vantage point would help her spot the Inquisition. As she made it to the top, she was rewarded with the sight of the Inquisition camped in a small valley before her. She fell to her knees in relief. As her vision went dark, she heard Cullen shout, "It's her!"

Hazy memories followed. Being carried by strong arms. Warm. Gentle. A cot. Reassurances that she was safe. That she had saved them. That she could rest.

She had survived.


End file.
